PAULUS SWAEN OLD & RARE MAPS

We specialize in rare maps, atlases, globes, travel posters, master prints, and decorative prints from the 16th to 18th centuries and offer antique maps from all parts of the world, produced by renowned cartographers such as Ortelius, Mercator, Blaeu, Janssonius, Hondius, Visscher, and de Wit.
The items listed in our BuyNow catalogare available for immediate sale and every sold item will receive a certificate of authenticity. We offer a lifetime guarantee on all our items.
The high standards of our map and atlas collection are world-renowned.


Catalog of old maps and prints

Swaen BuyNow CATALOG

Our BuyNow-catalog offers immediate sale items, and no commission is charged. The catalog includes old maps of the World - America - Asia - Europe - Africa - Medieval Manuscripts - Nuremberg Chronicle - Prints - Posters, atlases, globes, etc.
Our stock is updated weekly, and our most recent additions are conveniently displayed in our "Latest Listings".
Have a look at our Gallery highlights or our Curated Collection of carefully selected old and rare maps, all graded 8-10 stars in the HiBCoR grading system.

Latest Listings

Latest Listings & Updates

You can always check our latest listings page. It is updated daily and you see what we’ve recently added. Let's take a look at some rare maps we've recently acquired.
Join our newsletter and be the first to be notified of new acquisitions and get exclusive offers.
Feel free to contact us using the contact form, Chat on WhatsApp, or Social Media.


Highlights
Gallery Highlights

In this highlights section of the BuyNow catalog, we present some personal favorites from our large stock of authentic maps, atlases, prints, globes, posters and Medieval manuscripts.
The items are immediately available, and no commission is charged.

mapmakers
Mapmakers and explorers

Sometimes, maps become more famous than their makers. Many cartographers only become famous after they’ve created a masterpiece.
Still, others make a famous map, then disappear from history forever.

My Collection+
My Collection+

Now you can save any of your favorite items from our BuyNow catalog, Latest Listings or Archive in one place. Build your own Virtual Collection. It is free and you can delete an item at any time. Previously acquired items are automatically added to the My Collection+ list.

mapping of
The Mapping of . . .

We have created some short articles on the mapping of Arabia, Australia, Canada, China, Hungary, the Invasion of Minorca, Japan, Korea, Malta, the Mer de l'Ouest, the Northwest Passage, Poland, Russia, Southeast Asia, Taiwan, and Ukraine, among other regions.

catalog archive
Archive of sold items

Paulus Swaen maintains an archive of sold items, including images. Most map images are not subject to copyright and can be used freely, as they are in the public domain. These historically achieved prices can help understand the pricing development of old maps.


Articles about maps
Read our short articles

If you are interested in the backgrounds of antique maps, prints, mapmakers, etc. then you should read our short but informative articles >>>>
Or about posters, old prints, Nuremberg Chronicle, optical prints, medieval manuscripts, etc.



Featured Listings

Daniae Regni Typum..

A first state. Very decorative "carte à figures"- map of Denmark with the signature of the engraver Abraham Goos. Printed on heavy paper, in spite of its repair...

$2750 / ≈ â‚¬2417
Maker: VISSCHER, C.Jsz.
Date: Amsterdam, 1629

 


A fan combines views of Hong Kong (right), Canton (left), China, ca 1850-1860.

The fan shows nice images of Hong Kong and Canton on onside and on verso a garden with 39 characters welcoming a rider on his white horse. Their clothes are heightened in...

$4500 / ≈ â‚¬3955
Maker: ANONYMOUS
Date: China, ca. 1850-1860

 


[Lot of 9 maps] Plan général de Sébastopol avec indication des travaux du siege et de la defense au 28 mars - 9 avril 1855. Feuille 10. xiii

A group of nine (of 14) very rare panoramic town-plans of the siege of Sebastopol or maps of the Crimea. In lower margin : "Gravé au Dépôt topographique de la Guerre...

$2200 / ≈ â‚¬1933
Maker: LE DEPOT TOPOGRAPH. DE LA GUERRE
Date: St. Petersburg, N. Thieblin, 1863

 


Voyage et conduite d'un moribond pour l'autre monde [Caricature Parisienne.]

A 'busy', but sobering print depicting the procession of a dying old man to the afterlife. Attractively colored. Accompanying the old man on his inevitable journey are a ...

$160 / ≈ â‚¬141
Maker: MARTINET, F.N.
Date: Paris, 1820

 


Japan (poster signed by Georges Mathieu)

Dedicated "Pour Benijs Boulanger" and signed "Georges Mathieu", in black marker. Decorative poster advertising flights to Japan made by Georges Mathie...

$1750 / ≈ â‚¬1538
Maker: MATHIEU, G.
Date: Paris, 1967

 


Virulus marinus. Cete (Whale and whaling scene)

Whale and whaling scene, set against a mountainous landscape in the manner of Pieter Brueghel the Elder. Plate number 1. The engraving is copied after Adrian Collaert pla...

$300 / ≈ â‚¬264
Maker: COLLAERT, A. (after)
Date: Antwerp, after 1598

 


Popular Listings

Chinese advertising poster for Red Lion cigarette brand.

This poster, an advertisement for the Red Lion Cigarettes brand from the 1930s, melds the meticulous detail of traditional Chinese painting with the craft of color lithog...

$100 / ≈ â‚¬88
Maker: ASIATIC LITHOGRAPHIC PRINTING PRESS
Date: Shanghai, 1950/1960

 


A rare suite of 12 original etchings by Martin van Maele to the famous work by Edmond Haracourt.

A rare suite of 12 original etchings by Martin van Maele to the famous work by Edmond Haracourt. The series was published anonymously in a small edition. These etchings a...

$1500 / ≈ â‚¬1318
Maker: VAN MAELE, M.
Date: Nevers, Brussels, 1882,1883

 


Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Geographica ac Hydrographica Tabula.

A beautifully decorative world map taken from the 'English Atlas' by Moses Pitt and Steven Swart, based on an earlier engraved world map by Pieter van den Keere ca. 1630,...

$6000 / ≈ â‚¬5273
Maker: PITT, M. / SWART, S. / JANSSONIUS VAN WAESBERGHE, J.
Date: Oxford, 1680

 


[Anti capitalism Soviet Union propaganda poster]

Propaganda mini anti-capitalism poster published in Russia during The Cold War. By the 1960’s and 1970’s, outrageous practices in Soviet bureaucracy flourished. Poor plan...

$100 / ≈ â‚¬88
Maker: THE FIGHTING PENCILS
Date: Leningrad, 1974

 



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